Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Mamet is one of a handful of American playwrights whose work has found almost as much success on the screen as it has on the stage. Noted for his spare, gritty work that reflects the hardened attitudes of his native Chicago and often revolves around domineering male characters and their macho posturing, Mamet has time and again spurred both discussion and controversy.

Mamet began writing for the screen with a remake of The Postman Always Rings Twice. After winning a Pulitzer for his play "Glengarry Glen Ross," which was made into a film with Mamet's own script, he had his first true screen success as a screenwriter with The Untouchables.

After directing several celebrated features - House of Games, Things Change, and Homicide - Mamet turned primarily to screenwriting (stepping back behind the camera to direct an adaptation of his controversial play "Oleanna") and giving voice to such films as Hoffa, Malcolm X, and Vanya on 42nd Street. His screenplay for the political satire Wag the Dog earned Mamet both Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for Best Screenplay.

A testament to his versatility, Mamet made a radical departure from his more traditional adventure drama material with The Winslow Boy, an Edwardian courtroom drama. He followed up with State and Main and crafted the screenplay for The Silence of the Lambs sequel Hannibal. In 2006, he was the mastermind behind the military covert-ops action hit The Unit, serving as an executive producer and writing or directing some of the 13 episodes.

The author of several books, his latest is The Secret Knowledge: On the Dismantling of American Culture, in which he reassess his traditionally liberal politics.

David Mamet pulls no punches in his art or politics. A candid and powerful voice, he challenges his audiences in engaging keynotes on the key cultural and political issues of our times.

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